


Stay

by TheRedGlass



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Baby It's Cold Outside, Christmas, Cozy, Domestic, F/M, Ficlet, Fluff, Oneshot, Prompt Fill, Tumblr Prompt, ish, short fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-24
Updated: 2016-07-24
Packaged: 2018-07-26 11:19:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7572208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRedGlass/pseuds/TheRedGlass
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After being injured on a mission, Clint takes some time to rest and recover at a remote cabin. Natasha comes to visit him, and he secretly hopes the storm will make her stay longer.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stay

**Author's Note:**

> I asked my followers to send me a ship and a Christmas song and I'd write a short fic for them. This one was Clintasha + Baby It's Cold Outside.

“I really can’t stay,” Natasha says as she glances outside. The snow is coming down hard now, blurring out the view through the living room window.

“Storm’s gettin’ real bad,” Clint says, standing reluctantly from where they’d been camped out on the floor supposedly watching a movie but actually mostly talking.

“That’s why I should head out now, before it gets any worse,” she says, reaching for her scarf on the peg beside the door.

“You sure?” he asks, trying to bite back the desperation he can feel rising in his throat.

“Coulson’s got that early debriefing he wants me at.” She slowly winds the scarf around her neck and looks over at him. “How’re you feeling?”

Clint had taken quite a beating in their last mission, physically and mentally, and he’d been given leave to take some time at a little cabin he kept out in rural New York. Natasha had joined him that morning, and they’d spent the whole day getting a rare break, just talking and watching movies and snacking on whatever they felt like. It was only six months since Natasha had joined SHIELD, but it felt like they’d known each other for a lifetime. Clint had never connected with another person the way he had with her, and he had to constantly remind himself not to stare, not to let her catch him marveling at the fact that she existed.

He shrugged, wincing as the gesture tugged on some of his stitches. “I’m fine.”

She quirked an eyebrow at him, a little half smile of disbelief curling up. “Sure.” She turned to reach for her coat.

“It’s really cold out there,” he said, trying to stall her. “You’re gonna freeze.”

She turned back and the eyebrow climbed even higher. “Clint. _Russia_.”

“I mean, I know, but…” He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. “D’you want some more hot chocolate? There’s still like half a pot…”

“I’m okay, really.”

“Can’t Coulson push that briefing back?”

She looked at him curiously, shaking her head slowly. “Clint, are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah, no, it’s just - that storm’s getting really bad, and it’s a hell of a drive…”

She was quiet for a moment, and he suddenly just up and blurted out, “Don’t go!”

She blinked, startled. “Clint?”

He could feel himself starting to blush. “I just - well, this is really nice, and I-I like having you here.” It was suddenly harder to breathe. He knew how she felt about sentiment and romance and people and he respected her too much to ever try to start anything, even if she was the most amazing woman he’d ever known. But he liked her so much it was hard to fathom and he wanted her to stay.

He found himself staring at the floor, embarrassed, and it was silent in the cabin for a long while.

“Clint.”

Reluctantly, he looked up.

Natasha was looking at him with an expression on her face that was hard to read, carefully unwinding the scarf from her neck. “If it means that much to you, I can stay,” she said slowly.

“No, no, I didn’t mean - I mean, it’s whatever you want to do, I didn’t mean to imply that you had to -”

And suddenly she’d crossed the room in three quick strides and she was in front of him, her face the gentlest he’d ever seen it. “And that’s why I want to stay,” she breathed, and then she placed slow, gentle hands on his face and leaned in almost shyly to brush her lips to his.

For the first time, someone wanted her for something besides her skills or her body, was content with her mere company. “It is cold outside,” she murmured, drawing back from the kiss for a moment. “It’s a lot warmer in here.” And she resumed the kiss and found Clint returning the gesture with as much shyness and uncertainty and for once she was glad to pretend that the snow was too much for her.


End file.
